Sergey Khandozhko, a 40-year-old man living in a small village in Russia's Bryansk province, held his wedding in October 2023. His wife was Elena Sokolova, an employee at a recruitment office in a neighboring village.

One day after marrying, Sergey enlisted to fight in Ukraine, despite having no military experience, and died four months later.

Days after the funeral, Elena applied for benefits of up to 3 million rubles (approximately 37,000 USD) for the wife of a fallen soldier. This was despite never having lived with her late husband or changing her marital status in her passport.

Aleksandr Khandozhko, a relative of Sergey, filed a complaint with the court. After review, the judge determined that Elena had entered into a sham marriage with Sergey "to obtain potential financial benefits in case her husband was injured or died."

A memorial for Russian soldiers killed in the conflict with Ukraine in Kostroma city in October. *AFP*

Aleksandr also accused Elena of abusing her position at the recruitment office to expedite Sergey's enlistment process. When she learned her new husband was injured, Elena never visited him in the hospital, while she was living with another man.

This case exemplifies the phenomenon of "black widows," a term used by Russian media to describe women who seek to marry servicemen, particularly soldiers on leave from fighting in Ukraine, or those about to enlist, as in Sergey's situation.

After a hasty wedding, these "black widows" send their husbands to the front lines. If their husbands die in combat, these women receive "coffin money," a term referring to government allowances for fallen soldiers' families. This sum can reach up to 13 million rubles (approximately 140,000 USD), a significant amount for residents in some underdeveloped regions of Russia, where the average monthly salary is only 30,000-40,000 rubles.

Lonely and marginalized men like Sergey are ideal targets for "black widows" because they do not have to share the survivor benefits with other family members of the deceased husband.

Russian state media reports that while the full extent of this phenomenon cannot be quantified, Sergey is not an isolated case. Dozens of similar instances, some brought to court, have occurred in various Russian provinces, including Ulyanovsk, Ryazan, Samara, Saratov, and the Pacific coast region.

In Tomsk province, a real estate agent was sentenced to community service for advising a client to marry a soldier fighting in Ukraine to secure a down payment for a house.

Such schemes can be easily executed through social media in Russia, where groups dedicated to connecting soldiers and civilians have tens of thousands of members.

On the Lenta platform, critics argue that this phenomenon reflects a problem in Russian society: "opportunism," exploiting others' circumstances for personal gain. The Ukraine conflict has exacerbated this issue.

Some "black widows" do not act alone but are part of multi-layered networks. In such schemes, civil registry officials expedite sham marriages, while corrupt police officers provide information about single men without specific heirs, who are prime targets for "black widows."

Russian soldiers bid farewell to relatives before heading to the battlefield in Volgograd province in May 2023. *RIA Novosti*

The "black widows" themselves are quite diverse, ranging from recruitment office employees like Elena Sokolova to military hospital nurses.

Some Russian units, particularly assault infantry soldiers tasked with leading attacks, often do not last long on the battlefield, providing "black widows" with new victims to exploit. One woman in Nizhnevartovsk city successively married four Russian servicemen after their husbands died one after another, including the most recent one.

She reportedly earned a total of 15 million rubles (approximately 185,000 USD), 15 times the average annual salary in the city. She was later exposed and charged with fraud along with three accomplices, including a local police officer.

"Survivor benefits for widows and orphans in wartime are a long-standing tradition, but the deaths of Russian soldiers are being seen by opportunists as a way to make money," said Alexey Kovalev, a writer for *Foreign Policy* magazine.

According to Kovalev, this phenomenon is also linked to changes in Russia's wartime economy. The conflict with Ukraine has forced Russia to reallocate state resources towards military spending, which includes cutting social benefits.

This has led to prosperity in regions with many weapons manufacturing facilities, while remote rural areas have become poorer. High unemployment and low wages mean that many men in these regions view enlistment as the only way to provide for their families, despite the high risk of death.

For women in these areas, marrying a soldier for the chance to receive survivor benefits is often considered the only practical method to escape poverty. A one-time survivor benefit can be equivalent to a lifetime's income for low-wage earners.

Russian servicemen at the Kupyansk front in September. *RIA Novosti*

The problem of "black widows" has been publicly discussed on Russian state television, and the country's parliament is working to find legal solutions. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia has proposed a bill to the State Duma, suggesting up to 10 years in prison for those who engage in sham marriages with servicemen for financial gain.

However, Kovalev believes it is very difficult to prove such intent in a criminal court.

"The state can do little once it's a formally legal marriage and survivor benefits have been paid," the *Foreign Policy* writer stated. "A judge might annul the marriage between the soldier and the black widow, but the man is dead and the money has already been transferred. Therefore, this type of marriage is considered more of a moral issue than a prosecutable crime."

By Pham Giang (Lenta, Foreign Policy)